Typewriter ribbon device



Dec. 31, 1940. Q HQCHMAN 2,226,863

TYPEWRI'IER RIBBON DEVICE Filed July 7, 1938 Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE T YPEWRITER RIBBON DEVICE Julius C. Hochman, New York, N. Y.

Application July 7, 1938, Serial No. 217,931

14 Claims. 197-153) My present invention is concerned with the ribbons or other inking or duplicating agency of typewriting machines, tabulating machines, adding machines and other mechanisms of the character in which numerals or letters are imprinted, each such imprint appearing concurrently on one or more sheets.

The present invention, in common with that of my prior patents, No. 1,826,074, issued October 6, 1931, No. 2,060,314, and No. 2,060,315, issued November 10, 1936, and No. 2,083,446 issued June 8, 1937, is illustratively disclosed in cooperation with conventional typewriting machines. When so used it has among its fundamental objects the use of any of various conventional makes of typewriting machines without any alteration whatsoever in the construction thereof, for simultaneously producing two or more ink typewritten copies, and to accomplish this with greater facility than with the use of carbon paper.

An object of the invention is to provide such a ribbon copy making device, which shall be thin enough to operate non-interferingly in the limited space provided on conventional machines of the types above mentioned, even when as many as four auxiliary ribbons are used.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ribbon having reinforcing tabs attached to the ends thereof, which tabs are thin and fiat in order to provide a reinforced construction of minimum thickness.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ribbon of 'simple and inexpensive construction, with a flexible reinforcing tab which will eliminate the possibility of injury to the fingers in handling and which shall permit of the application of one or more independent ribbons to the ribbon holding arms of a single holding frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ribbon including a separating element attached thereto, for the purpose of slightly separating the individual ribbons lengths, to provide for free passage of intermediate copy sheets, when more than one ribbon is attached to the arms of a single holding frame.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a ribbon holding frame having a separating element preferably formed integrally therewith, for the purpos'e'of slightly separating the individual ribbon lengths, when more than one ribbon is attached to the arms of the frame.

Still another object is the provision of a unitary ribbon 'pack, comprising a plurality of ribbon lengths corresponding in number to the number of copies of the original which are to be concurrently produced.

Anotherobject is the provision of a ribbon capable of being turned end for end, after partial contact with a portion of the ribbon end. Preferably the ribbon length itself has attaching means in the form of slots formed in the ribbon body, the portion of the ribbon adjacent the slots being reinforced by the tab. In a preferred embodiment a fiat reinforcing tab, impervious to ink, is adherently connected to the ribbon body, the attaching slots passing through both the ribbon body and the tab.

When a plurality of ribbon holding frames are used, the frames are preferably formed, so that when gripped in the hand, the ribbons are automatically separated horizontally and staggered vertically, in order to provide for greater facility in disposing them between the sheets.

In the accompanying drawing in which is shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a typewriting machine of the Royal type, showing the manner of installation of the ribbon frame thereon,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view on a large scale, illustrating the simultaneous application of a plurality of ribbon frames, with their ribbons disposed between the sheets.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig, 4 is a perspective view of one end of a ribbon, showing the attaching slots passing through the ribbon and the reinforcing tab,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig 4,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one end of a ribbon showing an embodiment of a ribbon separator attached thereto,

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken on the line 'l-! of Fig. 6,

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of two ribbons attached tothe arm of a holding frame, showing the operation of the separator illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7,

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view illustrating another embodiment of an organ of a ribbon holding frame, which arm includes an integral ribbon separating portion,

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view of a ribbon hav-- ing attaching elements employed with the embodiment of Fig. 9,

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view illustrating the assembled appearance of the arm of Fig. 9 with the ribbon of Fig. 10,

Fig. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line i2--l2 of Fig. 11, with two ribbons attached to the arms, and,

Fig. 13 is a, fragmentary perspective view of an embodiment of a unitary ribbon pack formed of a plurality of ribbons.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawing, there is shown more particularly in Fig. 1 a perspective view of the carriage of a typewriter of the Royal type including side frames F mounting a platen 20, and platforms 2| for the usual ribbon spools 22 from one to the other of which the primary ribbon 22 is fed through vibrator clip 24,

In lieu of the carbon paper ordinarily employed there is shown an auxiliary typewriter ribbon frame of the character fully described and generally claimed in my prior patents, intended to be used primarily to produce concurrently a plurality of ribbon copies. The coordination of the ribbon frame with respect to the typewriting machine, is substantially identical with that of my said prior patents. The frame construction, shown as the lower frame in Figs. 2 and 3, in a preferred embodiment comprises a unitary resilient stamping including a longitudinal sheet metal bar 26 extending substantially the length of the platen, at right angles to which bar extend unitary arms 21 preferably curved for acc0mmodation to the curvature of the platen. Preferably the longitudinal bar 26 is stiffened by longitudinally bending the width thereof to aiford a fln 28 extending the entire length of the frame.

Positioning stop elements rise from the inner edges of the arms 21, and these, in the preferred embodiment involve unitary sheet metal stiflening flanges 29, provided with two notches 20, with either of which the paper holding bail B may engage- Between the lower ends of the two arms 21 one or more lengths of ribbon 32 are releasably connected in place by a construction to be more fully described below.

The overall length of the frame is preferably slightly less than the distance between the side frames F of the machine, so that when the ribbon frames rest upon the platen, a slight freedom of movement thereof lengthwise of the platen is afforded between frames F. The notches ll of the positioning lugs are somewhat wider than the bail B so that when the latter is in position the ribbon frame is nevertheless afforded some limited freedom of movement in direction peripherally of the platen.

Because of the proportioning of conventional typewriters, see Fig. 1, the lower end of the arms 21, to which the ribbon attaching tabs are connected, must pass between the index scale I and the platen 20, when typing near the beginning and end of a line of type. It has been found that the limited space between the index scale and the platen prohibits the use of morev than two frames and their associated ribbons although the greatest proportion of uses requires the production of more than three concurrent copies. In order to aaaaaes i make possible the production of four. an andeven more copies made concurrently, the present invention provides an assembly of minimum the impervious tab maybe built up by depositing a layer of glue, lacquer or other material upon the ribbon fabric itself, the reinforcing tab 33 is preferably formed ofa separate piece of pyr'oxylin coated fabric, gummed on one side, and thus adherently connected to the ribbon face. Preferably a colored pyroxylin coating is used, in order to enhance the ornamental effect of the tabs.

The ribbon ends thus reinforced are formed with elongated slots 24 and 28 which divide the ribbon attaching end into three parallel straps 38, 31 and 38. The upper slots it are longer than, and project beyond the lower slots II the outer edges 3! and II thereof being preferably formed for a wedging coaction with.the correspondingly tapered outer edge at the free end of the ribbon frame arm.

Also, as described in my prior patents, the ribbon attaching portion of the frame arm is preferably formed with three parallel recesses 28a, 31a, and Ila, and due to the flexibility of the ribbon tabs and the resilient tension exerted by the frame, the ribbon straps 28, 31 and I! lie' snugly in the recesses, and provide a ribbon assembly substantially within the thickness of the arm.

The reinforcing tabs, together with the ribbon ends extend slightly beyond the attaching slots 34, 25 to form flnger tabs 42, to provide for ready attachment and removal of the ribbons without soiling the flngers,-while the flexible nature of the tabs eliminates all danger of iniury to the fingers.

By the use of a single frame carrying one ribbon, only one auxiliary ribbon copy is produced, but by my invention it is also contemplated to produce two or more ribbon copies in addition to the original copy, and also to provide for some variation in the method of use, in order to better suit the particular requirements of thework being done.

Thus when an original and two copies are required on such work as ordinary correspondence, where three separate out sheets are employed, the'operation of inserting the two auxiliary ribbons. must be performed in the minimum time possible. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 by present invention provides for such operation, by providing for the simultaneous insertion of two spaced ribbons. For this purpose a second aux- The method of use of this embodiment is as 101- lows: The three sheets of paper are introduced into the typewriter, and rolled around the platen until the forward edges project about two inches would be automatically pivoted upward and outward, away from he ribbon carrying ends of arms 21. In this manner an automatic separation, both vertically and horizontally of the two ribbons carried by the respective frames is produced. The middle sheet is then readily straddled by the two separated ribbons, and the two frames are then loosely dropped in position on the platen. When the typewriter bail is lowered into position, in either of the sets of notches 30, 30' provided in stiffening flanges 29 and 29', the ribbon carrying ends of the two frames are thereby auto-' matically brought into alignment properly positioned along the writing line of the typewriter. It is obvious that the relatively great ribbon separation, in both vertical and horizontal planes, which is obtained by this completely automatic method, making possible the simultaneous application of both frames with the ribbons correctly disposed between the sheets, and all taking place without entailing a single extra manipulation of any kind, provides for the most rapid method of preparing for concurrently copy making.

Because of the limited space between the platen 20 and the index scale I, it has been found to be impracticable to use more than two ribbon carrying arms, or any ribbon tab construction which would materially increase the combined thickness 40 of arms and tabs.

The use of the thin, fiat flexible tabs of my present invention, provides a means for assembling a plurality of independent ribbons on a single ribbon frame, without producing undue 45 bulk in the area where the frame and tabs are 55 ing the required separation by increasing the thickness of a portion of one or more of the attached ribbons, at a position close to and inside of the attaching arm. As a convenient means of providing such thickening an ordinary paper 60 staple 43 is attached to each end of the ribbon,

adjacent the inner ends of the attaching slots, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the thickness of the staple acting as an additional separating element. The increased ribbon separation so produced is shown in Fig. 8.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 9 and 11 a ribbon holding frame 45, having the general characteristics of the frame previously described,

is formed with curved arms 46, only one of which is shown, ending in the ribbon attaching portions 41. Preferably the attaching portions 41 are also reduced in thickness at the parallel ribbon strap engaging portions 48, 49, and 50, as

heretofore mentioned, and as more fully described in my prior patents. Preferably the outer edges of the. ribbon attaching portions 41 are parallel to each other, and are each formed, with a projecting ribbon latching tooth 5|. Arms 46 are preferably formed with integral ribbon separating elements 52, closely adjacent the inner edges of ribbon attaching portions '41.

The ribbon 55, Figs. and 11 used in conjunction with the frame embodment 45, ispreferably reinforced at its ends by a tab 56, similar to the tab previously described, but the formation of the ribbon is symmetrical about a longitudinal centerline as the outer ends of the upper and lower attaching slots 51, 58 are preferably an equal distance apart. In this embodiment it will be seen that if the left hand end of the ribbon is subjected to greater use than the right hand end, the ribbon may be removed from the frame and reversed end for end, in order to equalize the wear over the ribbon area. v

As shown in Fig. 12, in the assembly of a pair of ribbons to the frame 45 one of the ribbons is positioned'over the separating element 52, and the other ribbon is positioned under the separating element. By the use of a permanent separating element on the ribbon holding frame itself, the constant additional cost inherent in the use of a. separator of the type shown in Figs. 6 to 8 is eliminated.

In Fig. 13 is shown another embodiment of multiple ribbon grouping, providing, for the use of any number of ribbons up to the maximum number possible for the production of satisfactory concurrent copies. In this embodiment ribbons 2, 63, 64, and 65 having intermediate separators 66, 61 and 68 are assembled into a unitary ribbon pack, preferably by stitching 69. more of the ribbon lengths may be continued beyond the length of the remaining ribbons as at 10 to form a mounting portion for the pack. Preferably the ribbon mounting portion 10 is reinforced by the tab H, the tab together with the ribbon end preferably extending slightly beyond the attaching slots to form a convenient finger tab 12. The entire ribbon pack is adapted to be held by a single ribbon holder, thus providing a multiple ribbon unit of minimum thickness.

With the use of ribbons of the type commonly employed and the relatively soft rubber platen as an anvil or backing, it is found that the lowermost of four or more copies simultaneously produced has a. blurred appearance. It is therefore desirable in many cases to provide a hard smooth backing for the various ribbons against the platen to insure a sharp impact. It is accordingly sometimes desirable in the embodiments of Figs. 8 and 12 for instance assuming that three inked ribbons are to be used, that two inked ribbons attached to one frame of a pair of frames and a single inked ribbon together with a ribbon preferably of impervious hard fibreboard, Cellophane or metal be attached to the other frame. Obviously such an anvil ribbon would be attached in the rearmost position against the platen. In the embodiment of Fig. 13, the ribbon 62 might similarly be made of a hard smooth material.

Obviously the ribbon separation possible by the embodiment illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 may be greater if desired, than the ribbon separation possible by the various embodiments of Figs. 12 and 8 and 13. Hence the embodiment of Figs. 2 and 3 is particularly suitable for use in conjunction with separate or cut sheets, where the ribbons must be reinserted for every set of sheets, and the embodiment of Figs. 8, 12 and 13 is par- One or ticulariy suited for use in conjunction with what,

is commonly known as continuous forms,'

wherein the sheets are printed in long lengths] are continuously fed past the relatively stationary ribbons until their entire ink supply is exhausted. The ribbon separators illustrated in the embodiments of Figs. 8, 12 and 13 provide for the ready insertion of the intermediate sheets, and for the free passage of the sheets during all paper feeding operations.

It will thus be seen that there is herein described apparatus in which the several features of this invention are embodied and which apparatus in its action attains the various objects of the invention and is well suited to meet the requirements of practical use.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and'desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Asian article of manufacture, a length of typewriter ribbon, said ribbon having attaching means at the ends thereof, and a thin metal band clipped to the ribbon at a point in close proximity to the inner portion of the attaching means the overall thickness of the ribbon being a maximum at the region of said band, thereby to maintain a minimum spacing between successive ribbons, when a plurality of ribbons are attached to a single ribbon attaching portion of a holding 2. As an article of manufacture, an auxiliary ribbon device for a typewriting machine comprising a pair of nested ribbon carrying frames, each frame comprising ribbon carrying arms, and a longitudinal member connecting the arms,

the forward portion of the said ribbon carrying arms nesting closely and their rear portions being slightly separated when the frames are in normal operating position, the rear portions of said arms nesting closely and their forward ribbon carrying ends being in separated relation when in condition for simultaneously interposing the associated ribbons between three sheets of paper.

3. The combination recited in claim 2 in which the upper of the nested ribbon carrying'frames curves upwardly away from the lower of said frames at the rear portion thereof when in normal operating position, whereby upon pressing the longitudinal members of the respective frames together, the separation between the associated ribbons is effected.

4. In a typewriting machine of the character which includes a carriage, a platen, a ribbon and a feed mechanism therefor; the combination therewith of an auxiliary ribbon device including a ribbon carrier, comprising a generally U-shaped resilient frame piece associated with the platen,

extend in frontof the platen and spacers interposed bet een the ribbons to effect longitudinal separation thereof. a

5., An auxiliary ribbon carrying unit comprising a U-shapedresilient metal frame having a pair of legs, each with an outer retaining edge, a typewriter ribbon having thin, flexible reinforcing tab structures at the ends thereof, ad-

-may be, removed from the frame and applied reverse end for end for re-use.

6. An auxiliary ribbon carrier unit comprising a generally rectangular frame including a U- shaped metal piece the legs of which are adapted to coact with the platen of a typewriting machine, and a ribbon structure connecting said legs, saidrlbbon structure comprising a plurality of separate ribbon elements, each of said ribbon elements having the ends thereof reinforced to afl'ord flexible thin tab structures unitary with said elements, the superposed tab structures of the several, ribbon elements havinglconformations for releasable attachment thereof to the respective ends of said legs, the said ribbons extending in taut relation therebetween.

7. An auxiliary ribbon carrier unit comprising a generally rectangular frame including a U- shaped metal piece, the legs of which are adapted to coact with the platen of a typewriting machine, and a ribbon structure connecting said legs, said ribbon structure comprising a plurality of separate ribbon elements, each of said elements havinga thin and flexible reinforcing tab at each end thereof adhesively connected to the length of ribbon, the superposed tabs having conformations for releasable attachment thereof to the respective ends of said legs,-the said ribbons extending in taut relation therebetween, and spacers interposed between the root portions of the respective tabs.

8. The combination recited in claim '7 in which the spacer means comprise metal staples extending transversely'through the roots of the respective tabs.

9. The combination recited in claim 7 in which the spacer means are elements integral with the legs of the carrying frame and extend between the contiguous tabs of the ribbon members.

10. An auxiliary ribbon carrier unit comprising a resilient U-shaped metal frame adapted for coaction with the platen of a typewriting machine and including two legs and a connecting bar, said legs having clip conformations at the ends 7 thereof, and a multipleetypewriter ribbon unit connected between said clip conformation, said unit comprising a plurality of ribbons, spacers therebetween near the opposite ends thereof and a common tab for all of said ribbons and unitary therewith at each of the opposite ends thereof, said tabs having conformations for direct coaction with the corresponding clip conformations on the frame, the clip coacting portions of the respective tabs being at a lesser distance than the corresponding conformations on the frame, thereby to maintain the ribbon when installed on the frame under the tension imposed by the correspondingly displaced arms of the frame.

11. As an article of manufacture, an auxiliary ribbon for a typewriting machine having a platen and comprising a pair of nested ribbon carrying frames, each frame comprising ribbon carrying arms to rest in superposed relation upon such platen and a longitudinal member connecting the arms, each longitudinal member having a fin protruding outward therefrom substantially radially of such platen when in position thereon, the forward portion of the said ribbon carrying arms nesting closely and said fins being separated when the frames are in normal operating position, the said forward ribbon carrying ends being in separated relation when the said flns are pressed together for facility in simultaneously interposing the associated ribbons between three sheets of paper.

12. As an article of manufacture, a length of typewriter ribbon having thin flexible reinforced mounting tabs adhesively bonded throughout the respective areas thereof to the corresponding opposite ends of the ribbon, said tabs having cutaway mounting conformations extending therethrough, and registering with corresponding cutaway mounting conformations in the ribbon portions, the outer extremities of said tabs constituting flexible flnger gripping portions.

13. As an article of manufacture, a length of typewriter ribbon, having reinforced mounting tabs of thin flexible impervious material adhesively secured throughout the respective areas thereof to the corresponding opposite ends of the ribbon, said tabs having mounting slots extending therethrough and registering with corresponding slots in the ribbon portions, the outer extremities of said tabs constituting flexible flnger gripping portions.

14. As an article of manufacture, a length of typewriter ribbon, having thin flexible reinforced mounting tabs adhesively bonded throughout the respective areas thereof to the corresponding opposite ends of the ribbon, said tabs having cutaway mounting slots extending therethrough, registering with corresponding cutaway mounting conformations in the ribbon portions, the outer extremities of said tabs constituting flexible finger gripping portions, and metal staple spacers extending transversely through the root end 20 a of said respective tabs, contiguous to the mount-.

ing conformations thereof.

JULIUS C. HOCHMAN. 

